San Antonio River Authority halts geese removal program...

1of8An Egyptian goose searches for food in the shallow water on the Mission Reach segment of the San Antonio River at Padre Park on May 9, 2019. The San Antonio River Authority says the birds could harm native species of birds and has contracted with wildlife management specialists to trap and euthanize them.Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff photographer

2of8Egyptian geese, native to Africa, are growing in number along the Mission Reach segment of the San Antonio River. The San Antonio River Authority says the birds could hurt native species and habitat.Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff photographer

3of8Egyptian geese will be removed from the Mission Reach of the San Antonio River over the next month.Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff photographer

4of8Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, a local wildlife group, has offered to take in the Egyptian geese that live pn the Mission Reach to save them from euthanasia.Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff photographer

5of8Ryan O'Keefe, left, and Chris Cholewa from New Jersey walk past an Egyptian goose along the Mission Reach segment of the San Antonio River at Padre Park on May 9, 2019.Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff photographer

6of8This Egyptian goose searches for food on the Mission Reach, but other areas of the city are also home to the geese.Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff photographer

7of8Egyptian geese have grayish-tan bodies with darker wings and a brown patch on the breast along with one encircling their eyes. There are now significant populations in Florida, Texas and California.Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /Staff photographer

8of8An Egyptian Goose and it's young walk along the Mission Reach in San Antonio in 2012. The geese have been a part of the San Antonio landscape for some time. Lisa Krantz/San Antonio Express-NewsPhoto: Lisa Krantz, STAFF / San Antonio Express-News

Faced with opposition from the public, the San Antonio River Authority halted the scheduled eradication of about 50 nonnative Egyptian geese on the Mission Reach.

SARA General Manager Suzanne Scott said she first learned the geese would be removed and killed when she read a San Antonio Express-News report early Friday. She immediately canceled a contract for the work, which was to begin Monday.

The agency will get public input before deciding what to do next, she said.

The nonnative geese are multiplying and could hurt native species of birds and damage habitat, according to a SARA staffer. The agency worked to restore the river about five years ago, bringing back its natural contours, wildlife and vegetation.

“Our staff, in their zeal to manage this invasive species, began to go forward with an action plan that was in the best interest of the Mission Reach and unfortunately did not follow our normal processes for public engagement,” Scott said.

“This is not in character of the river authority; this is not in line with our values — not having an extensive public input process. … I apologize to the community.”

Scott stopped short of promising the geese won’t be killed.

“We’re going to have to balance all the input we receive. We’ve heard from the public that euthanizing is not what the public wants,” she said. “We need to have all the experts in the room. But at this point, we know the public is not supporting that strategy, and it’s important for us to take that into consideration.”

Earlier in the week, the agency issued a news release that it had hired a contractor to “humanely” capture and remove the geese. The release didn’t state that the birds would be killed, but a SARA official told the Express-News that the contractor would “euthanize” the birds.

In an interview Thursday, Lynn Cuny, the founder of Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation, said she also was unaware of SARA’s plan and called it “absurd” and “mean-spirited” and said it should be stopped.

She offered to relocate the geese to the group’s preserve near Kendalia in Kendall County.

She also objected to SARA’s use of the term “euthanizing,” which suggests the geese are sick or injured. “Killing” is accurate, she said.

Representatives of the rescue organization and SARA spoke Friday and agreed to meet and find a better solution.

The river agency received 10 to 15 emails and phone calls Friday from people opposed to killing the geese.

One email came from the Hot Wells Mission Reach Neighborhood Association.

“Living along the river, we see the prolific and diverse wildlife populations on a daily basis and enjoy each and every one of them,” the email said. “We are appalled that SARA would even consider euthanasia as an acceptable management plan for any species. … All avian species have been thriving together since the ‘eco-habitat restoration’ plan was initiated (as planned) and our members are witness to that fact.”

The email also refutes SARA’s concern that the Egyptian geese face no natural predators, suggesting they’re prey for coyotes, fox and hawks.

In light of the opposition, SARA said it will engage in an “extensive public input process and further consultation with additional avian experts and other interested stakeholders in order to explore all management options.”

Cuny said she was pleased SARA officials reached out to her group Friday.

“I am very encouraged by my conversation with them,” she said. “It is my hope, and what I have told them, that we can work together to promote both river and animal protection in all areas.”

She said Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation could handle the trapping and removal of the geese for relocation to the organization’s reserve at Kendalia in Kendall County.

Once there, the geese would be checked for parasites and treated if necessary. It’s possible some would fly away, Cuny said, but the reserve provides food and the companionship of other geese.

“They generally stay put,” she said.

Cuny also suggested the population could be managed by replacing real goose eggs with prosthetic ones, a practice that minimizes population growth without culling the species.

Egyptian geese have grayish-tan bodies with darker wings and a brown patch on the breast along with one encircling their eyes. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Birds of North America website, the earliest sightings of Egyptian geese in the U.S. date to the late 1800s. They may have escaped from captive collections.

There now are significant populations in Texas, Florida and California, the site says. They originated in Sub-Saharan Africa and are known to be aggressive.

They’ve been seen at Woodlawn Lake, Brackenridge Park and a grassy area at Embassy Oaks near Bitters Road and U.S. 281, among other places in the city.

SARA’s plan to remove them from the Mission Reach has opened a larger discussion about the public feeding of wildlife. It’s banned in some cities, but not in San Antonio. Feeding animals can exacerbate problems with population increases and aggressiveness, experts said.

Scott shied away from advocating for a city ordinance, with fines, for feeding ducks and geese.

“We’ve talked to the city about this many times,” she said. “I think it’s become a cultural norm that people have come to enjoy when they go to the park.”

After 10 years covering City Hall for the San Antonio Express-News, Baugh moved into the environment beat in February 2019.

A native of the Alamo City, Baugh was hired as a suburban-cities reporter at his hometown newspaper in 2006.

He began his newspaper career at the Denton Record-Chronicle while working on a master's degree in journalism at the University of North Texas and later covered Texas A&M University for The Eagle in College Station. He's covered various facets of government and politics ever since.

Baugh has previously written about public housing, county government and transportation for the Express-News.